Tam McManus has been at this a few years, so the Rhinos veteran forward from Scotland knows how to toe the line when it comes to post-game comments. Full disclosure: I wasn’t at PPL Park in Chester, Pa, on Tuesday night to see the Rhinos lose 3-0 to the Philadelphia Union (MLS) and also wasn’t able to watch online. We had what’s called in the business a “stringer,” cover the match. Here’s a link to Andy Jasner’s game story. From what I’ve read, while the Rhinos played better in the second half, they were out-played much of the match, which fittingly included an hour lightning delay in the first half. (Just what Rochester needed, right, to make a long road trip even longer). Back to Tam. I follow McManus on Twitter, so I was able to hear his thoughts on the disappointing third-round U.S. Open Cup loss by Rochester. Here were two of his tweets afterward, following the Rhinos fourth match in seven days and third in five days (1-2-1 record):

“Hate making excuses Philly were impressive tonight good side fully deserved to win but we are much much better than that it’s so frustrating. … EHAUSTION. I feared that to be honest thought adrenaline could carry us but one game too far. Fact.”

The Rhinos gave up a goal in the fifth minute when it looked like defenders Troy Roberts and Jack Traynor each could have cleared a corner kick but failed to do so. It was the type of start you can’t afford in most matches, let alone one against an MLS team desperate for a positive after being winless in five straight. You also can’t let Freddy Adu, who is about 5-foot-9 and scored twice, win a head ball in a scoring position, so was that tired legs, poor marking as a result of tired legs or just plain poor marking? I don’t know, but I’m sure the road-weary Rhinos were not at their best because of the glut of games, as well as two road trips through the night on Friday (Harrisburg to Dayton) and Saturday (Dayton to Rochester). I mean, they gave up six goals in the past three matches after not allowing one in the first six. So, now it’s back to just USL PRO League play and Richmond, coach Jesse Myers’ former team, arrives on Saturday. Richmond also lost Tuesday night to D.C. United, 2-1 in overtime, in Cup play, which was a magical night for some teams (seven MLS clubs lost to lower-division teams; best line I saw on Twitter was “MLSassacre”). Below is some video on the Philly match, including part of Myers’ post-game press conference. You can see the three goals, too.

Leave a Reply

Jeff DiVeronica has covered professional soccer and the Rhinos for the Democrat and Chronicle since the team's inception in 1996. "Devo's Direct Kicks" takes aim mostly at Rochester soccer, but will also highlight the USL, MLS and U.S. national team play. Devo, his nickname since college at St. John Fisher, also hosts two weekly radio shows each Saturday on WHTK-AM/FM (1280/107.3 or www.whtk.com). "Kick This!" (11 a.m.) features soccer talk, while the Canandaigua National Bank High School Sports Show (noon) covers Section V sports. E-mail Jeff at jdiveron@DemocratandChronicle.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @RocDevo